My guess is that there will be some variability on this based on the predilections of your institutional review board. My practice up to now has been your former option in order to keep the consent form separate from the data. But lately my IRB has been eschewing consent forms altogether for exempt research (research that poses no reasonable risk) in order to further minimize the possibilities for identification of subjects. I'd check with your IRB coordinator and get some feedback there, since you'll probably get a variety of answers here. Best, Rob Robert Moses Peaslee, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Dept of Electronic Media & Communication College of Mass Communications Texas Tech University robert.peaslee@ttu.edu 806 742 6500, x283 On 1/10/12 1:11 PM, "Elena Razlogova" <elena.razlogova@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear list members,
What are the rules and practices on filling out consent forms for interviews that are done online or over email?
Most of the interviews I'm doing for my research will be conducted in-person, with a standard consent form to sign. However, some of my interviewees may be more comfortable with an email exchange rather than a personal interview. In that case, instead of sending them the form to sign, scan, and email me back, I would like to include the consent form in the email together with my questions, for them to fill out and return by hitting reply, but without the signature.
Is that an accepted practice? What are the rules on this?
Thank you, Elena
Elena Razlogova Concordia University, Montreal http://elenarazlogova.org _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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